10 Things To Do When You're In Jogjakarta

Jogjakarta is such a vibrant city and I've always loved visiting Jogjakarta, just two weeks ago I finally managed to re-travel that gorgeous city for the third time, and I am still out of word for why that city is so memorable, but that city's simply known for that: the city of memories, but for me, that's also a friendship city :). It's awesome that I can't say it with words because the best things are felt and hard to explain.

This post is going to be your guide to travelling in Jogjakarta, and if this is your first time planning on a trip to Jogjakarta, I hope this post can help you out from the culinary to the well known destinations. Certainly this is not a complete list because I'm here on a limited time and I do need more to surf Jogjakarta and around.

1. EAT GUDEG
Gudeg is Jogjakarta's traditional food. It can be served dry or wet (by meaning with a little glimpse of soup) and it commonly consists of rice, Jackfruit seasoned in a traditional way, and your preference of topping. The most basic one would be with egg or with this side dish called "Sambal Krecek", I don't really know to explain sambal krecek, but it's something that's a bit spicy and soft-textured, almost jelly like but chewable. Gudeg is very famous in Jogjakarta that you can have it all around the city and the outlet has a lot of branches everywhere. Some of my most favorite Gudeg in town are:

Gudeg SaganJl. Prof. DR. Herman Yohanes 53
Price ranging from: IDR 7k - 35k
Gudeg Sagan is an example of a wet Gudeg, as you can see it has a little soup underneath the rice and the toppings. This one is their Gudeg with Chicken(IDR 27k). For me, this is dead delicious. I love the whole thing, starting from how well the soup blends with the rice and the chicken itself is cooked very soft, seasoned so well.

Krecek is the one with chilis on top.

Gudeg Ibu LiesJl. Wilijan No. 5 A-B
Gudeg Ibu Lies is the example of a dry Gudeg, I personally prefer the wet one for a more playful flavor but this one certainly not bad too, somehow I can taste the krecek better. Top: Gudeg with Chicken Leg (IDR 13k), Below: Gudeg with Egg (IDR 8k)

Gudeg Yu DjumJl. Kaliurang KM 4.5 Karang Asem, CT III/22
Been rewared by the citizens as the most famous and most delicious Gudeg is Jogjakarta, this one is certainly not to missed! Gudeg Yu Djum is erving dry Gudeg and you can find it everywhere in Jogjakarta. Price ranges from IDR 8k-35k.

2. MALIOBORO
Malioboro is the number one shopping district in Jogjakarta, you can find traditional clothings, accesories and hand-crafts in this area. I recommend going by night for the ambience is different, it's a lot more free but in a good way, music everywhere, people dancing on the street like there's no tomorrow. It's just amazing for my eyes <3.

Malioboro is also the home of Mirota Batik, a shop where you can purchase clothings, gifts, food, beverages, beauty products, it's sort of a department store/gift shop. Fusion maximum!

Damnit I love horses! They're pretty and handsome no matter what genders they are. We're getting to these horses later!

In Mirota you can see for yourself the process of the "Handwritten Batik", for this custom made artworks, you might spend millions of IDRs. Nothing is cheap when it comes to custom, except for frozen yoghurts.

Don't forget to try Jogjakarta's traditional chocolates: MONGGO. They come in various flavors, made with premium ingredients and tastes hearty <3. Here's a heart for you.

3. EAT LESEHAN TERANG BULAN
Still at the Malioboro, it's also the home for this lesehan (meaning you eat on the carpets, just a more relaxed and traditional way of eating). There are literally tons of lesehan places in Jogjakarta but purple heart for this one, it deserves to be on my list. Lesehan Terang Bulan Maliboro! They have the freshest ingredients, the loveliest flavors, all in the relatively affordable prices. Don't forget to try their fried "Burung Dara" (Pigeons). I sounded like a psycopath typing this one LOL. Pigeons are lovely animals, maybe I shouldn't have told you what "Burung Dara" means in english, you should google yourself!

The talented cook!

Yummiest Sambal Krecek I've had during the trip! Look at how juicy that is!

Fried Rice with Cat Fish

IDR 18k

Fried Duck with Rice
IDR 22k

Fried Pigeon with Rice

IDR 28k

Ok, not the most appealing food, but it tastes so delicious.

Fried Rice
IDR 10k

4. GO TO PARANGTRITIS AND INDRAYANTI BEACH
Jogjakarta is the home of two gorgeous beaches, Parangtritis and Indrayanti beach, even though I didn't go to the Indrayanti due to the distance and the limited time, but I am still going to recommend the beach for what I've googled, as it's also another top recommendation from my lovely readers. Thank you guys! The sea breeze and white windmill was spectacular at Parangtritis, it's probably one of my most favorite beaches I've ever been period. The sea was pretty clean, even though it's not really a tanning beach for it's not really hot in the afternoon, but it was beautiful for a sightseeing session.

PS: Don't forget to ride the Andong or Horse Riding, you might feel like a Zorro, only it is at Parangtritis. Close enough.

5. RAFTING AND PINDUL CAVE TOUR

Another not-to-be-missed activity! Rafting and Pindul Cave Tour!!! The rafting was super enjoyable, I really wanna do that again whenever I am in Jogja or technically wherever part of this world offering a rafting service. Damnit that's like the first time ever for me to jump to the water from a 30 metres height. That was super nervewrecking but it is so relieving to know that you're not a freakin coward after all. It was fun to watch people who're to scared to jump because they're pacing with their adrenaline but they eventually jump. There's a hero inside of you.

The rafting took place at Oya (Oyo) River at Gunung Kidul, the venue was serene, the river was flowing occasionally mild. You can join the rafting and the Pindul cave tour for IDR 60k.

Paid a tribute for this guy for being extremely kind pulling me from the back. It's a lot of hardwork. Such a great guide #lol.

Pindul Cave Tour

I didn't manage to take a lot of pictures because the place was so dark and there's tons of bats inside. No way you're not using the flash inside, especially when you reach the third zone (completely dark, the first and the second is lighter), our lighting was only the torch light. Another reason not to use the flash, you don't want to wake up thousands of bats living inside. I know, stunning. However, I was pretty impressed by the habitat and the area of this cave, you can see the active stones (by meaning still growing). Daebak!

6. TEMPTING TEMPLES: BOROBUDUR TEMPLE, PRAMBANAN TEMPLE &RATU BOKO, AND MENDUT TEMPLEBorobudur Temple
Borobudur Temple is truly the icon of the province (and also Central Java), however, this still deserves to be on the seven wonders of the world. Like seriously? Can you see how gorgeous this is?! I gotta give it to the people from the past for creating such a gorgeous artwork, they're like 1000 times smarter and more diligent than us! (admit myself). And also, remember, there's no technology back in the old days so you do the judgement.
Ticket price: IDR 30k | International tourists: (IDR 195k)

Prambanan Temple dan Ratu Boko
Prambanan Temple is also another gorgeous temple located in Jogjakarta. From the measurements, it's smaller than Borobudur, but just look at how gorgeous and detailed it is, also the reliefs on the stone-walls. Jogjakarta also has very bright blue sky with simpson clouds and that helps me a lot with my photos.

Even looks good on b/w

If you visit Prambanan temple, they also provide this package to have a little tour of "Ratu Boko", it's a different area and you need vehicles to take you there (but since I bought the package, there's a travel car). Ratu Boko provides super gorgeous sky view as well as the hills, they were bluer than water and greener than Iceberg lettuce (LOL).

Mendut Temple
To visit this temple is pretty cheap, you only need to pay IDR 3k. It's the smallest from the three temples I've visited but don't get it wrong, the size doesn't always define beauty, it has a large Buddha statue inside and overall, just look at how gorgeous the sky is.

7. ANDONG AND BECAK RIDE!
Frankly speaking, your presence in Jogjakarta is not entirely official before you took Andong as your ride to tour the city. Andong is Jogjakarta's traditional transportation running by the power of the strong horses. In Jakarta we call it "Delman", it's so hard to find this ride these days in this city, I remember my beautiful childhood riding this almost every Sunday morning. Bring back the old damn Jakarta back!

Another ride to take is certainly "Becak Hias". Becak Hias is everywhere at Alun-Alun, mostly Alun-Alun Selatan (Southern Alun). This is not technically a transportation like the original Becak, this is more like a game and fun ride. I took this one for IDR 40k/two rounds. The design is ranging from the simple one to the over the top.

8. ALUN ALUN JOGJAKARTA
Still connected to the previous number, Alun-Alun Jogjakarta is certainly the top notch night entertainment in Jogjakarta. Forget about the night clubs and alcohols, you can party here with a lot of joy, togetherness, musics and perfect ambience. Alun-Alun Jogjakarta is divided into two: the north and the south Alun-Alun. The southern part is certainly where the crowd is gathering, and also the home for the "Mysterious Trees". The old belief mentioned that whoever succeed in passing the alley in between the two trees can get whatever the wish they have, some also said that the person must have a good and pure heart. Well, I hope it's true because I friggin succeed, even better, on my first trial!!! (Gotta highlight that one). Kind heart (check), I hope my wishes come true! Things like this make me believe in the power of the trees *major LOL*.

9. EAT BAKMI JAWA PAK PELE
Another not-to-be-missed culinary spot in Jogjakarta is this place called "Bakmi Pak Pele", it's one of the most recommended places by eatandtreats readers (thank you guys for that). It's located at the North Alun-Alun and technically, the venue is only a wagon and tents, and the food itself is nothing special: hawker noodles and rice. I wouldn't even call it a restaurant, but let's skip on the venue and focus on the food. For a hawker food like this, I'd definitely be very happy, the taste is good, the price is lovely affordable.

Fried Rice
IDR 9k

Mie Goreng Campur (Mixed Fried Noodles)
IDR 13k

Mie Kuah Campur (Mixed Noodle Soup)
IDR 18k

Mie Kuah Bebeg (Mixed Bebeg Noodle Soup)
IDR 18k

10. KERATON JOGJAKARTA
Last but not least, you don't need those cultural site craps to know this one because it's like the top destination when it comes to travelling in Jogjakarta. KERATON JOGJAKARTA!!! Keraton is apparently the imperial house, the living house and the venue for traditional activity relating to the sultan and the relatives. I gotta admit that Keraton is very beautiful and very well taken, not entirely a big area, but you can see that is pretty well care taken. Well it's important remembering it's sort of an essential part of the province :).

I hope this list can really help you out as your guide when you're planning to travel Jogjakarta! I know lah, completely aware that this is not the most complete list due to my limited time. I didn't even have the chance to go to some recommended places like Serabi Notosjuman, Gudeg Mercon, Bakmi Kadin and etc because when I went to the temples, the rafting places and the beach, they already took half day of the each day, but overall, I am pretty satisfied with the trip! It was such a fun trip with fabulous friends and I wanna do it over and over again. I kinda my old days living here <3.

Here are other photos that I took on the trip, just a little gallery :). I also want to introduce you to these two new friends I made, not from the trip but for some reasons that'll took me longer to type. They're Justin from Taiwan and Hye Sun from South Korea.

Before I wrote this post, I was sorting the photos and they made me realize how much I miss this holiday :").